GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduces his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday.
By Win McNamee, Getty Images
Talk about an "oops" moment.
Mitt Romney stumbled a bit as he made the biggest announcement of his presidential campaign, when he introduced his running mate Paul Ryan as "the next president of the United States."
Romney can take a little comfort knowing it's not the first time something like that has happened. Barack Obama did the same thing four years ago, as he brought Joe Biden to the stage in 2008.
Romney caught his gaffe and quickly went back to the podium, and put his arm around Ryan.
"Every now and then I'm known to make a mistake," he said. "I did not make a mistake with this guy, but I can tell you this, he's going to be the next vice president of the United States."
In 2008, at an Illinois rally at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Obama said: "So let me introduce you to the next president - the next vice president of the United States of America, Joe Biden."
Republican nominee John McCain's campaign seized on Obama's gaffe, using it to hammer Obama on his experience. "Barack Obama sounded as though he turned over the top spot on the ticket today to his new mentor, when he introduced Joe Biden as the next president," said the GOP statement, according to ABC News.
There was also the time in 1980 at the Democratic National Convention, when President Jimmy Carter tried to pay tribute to the late Hubert Humphrey. Carter called him "Hubert Horatio Hornblower ... er, Humphrey."